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West Elm · Double Dare

Cutting misinformation returns 13% by setting expectations earlier.

Beat the 10% relative target on custom furniture in 12 months by showing customers exactly what they were buying at the moment of commitment. Shipped incrementally around a payment-partner constraint, then adopted across Williams-Sonoma brands.

Three phone screens from the redesigned West Elm flow: a product page with the order summary and Add to cart, an “Excellent choice!” overlay asking customers to check dimensions before adding to cart, and the Measuring Guide for Furniture Delivery.
Role
Lead Product Designer
Team
Product manager · lead engineer · UX director · partnerships
Scope
Custom-made furniture · product page → cart → confirmation
Timeline
12 months, incremental releases
Impact
13% fewer misinformation returns vs. a 10% relative target

Context

Custom furniture was arriving, not fitting, and coming back

  • 28%

    of online sales come back as returns

    Nearly 3 in 10 online sales

  • ~20%

    of custom-order returns trace to missing or unclear information

    About 1 in 5 custom-order returns

Research

Three sources, one answer: the flow never told customers what to check.

Analytics

3 in 5

of misinformation returns came from customers misjudging size and scale

Worst on sofas, beds, and large furniture, the pieces hardest to picture at home.

Customer interviews

Customers who returned items described the same gap: no guidance from discovery to purchase.

“Found it difficult to locate overall dimensions.”

“Lack of communication on how to avoid issues leading to returns.”

“No clue how to anticipate and prepare for delivery, and no guide to do so.”

Audit

I ordered a custom piece end to end to see what customers saw. I’d been that customer myself.

Product page
No custom-order or no-returns messaging. Full dimensions sat far below the fold and didn’t update for the chosen options.
Cart
A no-returns warning, but no guidance on how to check the order.
Order confirmation
No reminder that the item is final sale.

Alignment

The experience map helped the team align on where to fix it.

  1. Discovery

    Doing

    Checks the sofa’s measurements against their living room.

    Needs

    To know it fits through doors, hallways, and elevators.

    Measuring guide

  2. Order process

    Doing

    Picks fabric, color, and size, reviews the summary, adds to cart.

    Needs

    Full dimensions of their exact configuration, and a final-sale reminder before committing.

    Dimension details · Custom-order reminder

  3. Order confirmation

    Doing

    Sees the item in the cart.

    Pain point

    Hits “This made-to-order item cannot be canceled or returned” with no way to check. At this price, they hesitate.

    Biggest drop in confidence

  4. Checkout

    Doing

    Heads to checkout.

    Needs

    A light final check of fabric, size, and delivery prep before paying.

    Verify & confirm overlay

  5. Post-purchase

    Doing

    Gets shipping, tracking, and delivery-prep emails.

Product page selection summary and cart, each showing a reminder that custom orders cannot be canceled or returned.

03 · Product page

Custom-order reminder

Customers are repeatedly informed throughout the purchasing process that orders cannot be canceled or returned.

Trade-offs

Blocked at the cart, so I moved the check upstream.

Cart order summary with Checkout, Apple Pay, and PayPal buttons. Dotted arrows lead from each button to a proposed “Before you pay” overlay with a dimensions and delivery checklist; the PayPal path is marked with an X.

The original plan · Cart

Verify & confirm overlay

A step-by-step check of dimensions and delivery prep in the cart: the last chance to catch a mistake.

Blocked by the payment-partner contract

The engineering lead flagged that an overlay in the cart would breach our PayPal contract, so I proposed moving the verify and confirm overlay to the product page.

I tested two versions: a required checkbox and a gentle reminder. We pulled the checkbox early after a significant drop in add-to-cart, and the gentle reminder won.

Product page overlay titled “Excellent choice!” with a checkbox customers must tick to confirm they’ve checked dimensions before adding to cart.

Approach 1 · Product page

Overlay with a required checkbox

Forces a confirmation before add-to-cart completes.

Pulled early: add-to-cart dropped

Product page overlay titled “Excellent choice!” with a short reminder to check dimensions and links to the measuring guide, and no required checkbox.

Approach 2 · Product page

Gentle overlay

A light reminder before add-to-cart, with no forced step.

Won the test

The rearranged plan: Release 1 needed no new interruption, so it could ship while we tested whether the overlay hurt add-to-cart.

  1. Release 1

    Dimension details, the measuring guide, and custom-order reminders on the product page.

    −5% misinformation returns in the first 6 months

  2. Release 2

    The gentle overlay on the product page, before add-to-cart completes, with guidance repeated on order confirmation.

    −13% by month 12 · add-to-cart ±1% in a 6-week A/B test

Outcomes

Cut misinformation returns 13% without hurting add‑to‑cart.

13%

fewer misinformation returns

Relative reduction · custom-order furniture

Scaled across brands

Adopted by Pottery Barn and other Williams-Sonoma brands, then added to the design system.

Reflection

Don’t get attached to the first solution.

  • Let the data decide.

    We pulled the checkbox early when add-to-cart dropped.

  • Keep the team moving.

    A contract blocked our best idea. Letting go of it kept us shipping.

  • Surface blockers early.

    I now map platform and contract limits alongside the experience map.